I've read the article but too tired/lazy to see through this very long thread, but I must say that Christopher Eccleston, great actor that he is, is perhaps a bit too precious not return, perpetually leaving his boats and bridges burnt. I know Eccleston took on the Doctor role relatively briefly and it was at an awkward time in his life (his dad dying), plus it's alleged he got on badly with one of the directors, but was the professional experience really that bad? It's been many years now.
But he's under no obligation to come back, he did a job, it's over he moved on. Frankly the only thing that still somewhat surprises me about the whole thing is that he took the job in the first place, obviously he didn't know he was going to have a bad experience with certain people on set, and the loss of his father would happen at this time, but he seems a very profession, serious private man and he must have known that this was a role that might define him to a lot of people for a long time. I'm glad he did take the role 'cos he was a great Doctor, I just wonder why he took it?
From interviews he says that he knew RTD was a good storyteller and he thinks it's important to hook kids on good stories from a young age.
The level of interest in having him show his face again should tell you exactly why he took the role, or at least one big reason. He's a savvy businessman who realised how popular the show would be.
He wanted to work with RTD again -- they had worked together on The Second Coming -- and thought the experience and working relationship on Doctor Who would be similar. It wasn't.
He also likes children and wanted to present a positive role model for them. He also said in one interview that people with his accent are looked down on in Britain, often thought as slime or even dangerous just based upon their voice and what region they were born in, and that he felt it was important to show both British kids and their parents that people like him could be positive heroes as well.
There's an actress called Maxine Peake, she's also from the north, she stars in a show called Silk, in which she plays a barrister. She auditioned for the role and they told her that with her accent people would never believe that she was intelligent enough to be a barrister and she had to use a southern accent.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bbc-breakfasts-stephanie-mcgovern-said-2067680 Something similar happened Steph McGovern, business correspondent on BBC breakfast TV.
That's disgusting. Aren't we supposed to have evolved a bit above and beyond that kind of crap by now?